New Sage chairman hails from Vodafone

The UK's largest independent software company, Sage, has announced the appointment of a new chairman.

Sir Julian Horn-Smith will take over from 1 August 2006, replacing the longstanding chairman, Michael Jackson, who is retiring after 22 years with the company. Jackson was pivotal in guiding Sage through its initial growth to become market leader in the UK and a force in Europe.

Horn-Smith joins Sage from Vodafone, which he had been with since the company's birth in 1984. He rose to the position of deputy chief executive, before leaving the mobile giant at the end of last month. Horn-Smith also holds non-executive directorships at Lloyds TSB and Smiths Group.

Sage is going through a challenging time at present as it faces up to renewed competition from Microsoft, which has made a string of new product announcements over the last six months that directly target Sage's traditional market for financial and accounting software.